Japanese scientists have discovered the function of an antibiotic which has mind-altering effects in men may reduce the risk of "honey trap" effects during a financial trade, reports Counsel&Heal.
Researchers from the Waseda and Kyushu Universities studied the effects of a bacteriostatic antibiotic called Minocycline, which is normally used in the treatment of acne and other skin infections such as MRSA and Lyme disease. It was previously shown that this drug can reduce symptoms linked to mental illness such as schizophrenia and depression.
In the current study, 98 male participants were shown photographs of eight attractive women and were asked to rate how trustworthy they thought each woman would be. Divided into two groups, the first group was given a four-day course of minocycline and the second team acted as a control group, each given a placebo pill.
Researchers then added a financial trade as part of their ratings. Each participant was given $13 and was asked to choose how much he would give each women based on their trust. Men were advised that if they choose to share their full money, the amount would be tripled, so in this case, $39 plus the woman's share of additional $13, which makes $52.
Participants were also alerted that women had an option to either share the money or take them all, however, they were not advised that the women had already made their choice to betray them. Men also rated women's attractiveness on a 11-point Likert Scale.
The study explained that men often trust a woman by her physical attractiveness despite adequate evidence. During the study, among the two groups, it was found that men who took minocycline were less driven to trust the woman despite her "perceived attractiveness", by giving significantly less money compared to those in the control group.
The researchers explained the mental behavior of men with an example where, often it is seen in movies that a female spy wins the trust of a male target with her physical attractiveness. Despite the male target's suspicion about the female spy, because of her attractiveness, "he becomes amorously entangled with the female spy despite concerns regarding her trustworthiness."
"For males, allocating valuable resources to physically attractive females may be evolutionarily adaptive, in that it may increase the probability of producing attractive offspring under natural selection," researchers explained.
Researchers described the attraction toward females creates 'noise' that sets hurdles in making short-term financial decisions, resulting in men falling in the 'honey trap'.
"In an economic exchange, attractiveness in a female increases sexual arousal in a male that automatically (without careful evaluation of her trustworthiness) facilitates trusting behavior," researchers added.
Therefore, the researchers' demonstration of using the minocycline to prevent making a decision in haste lured away by the women's attractiveness. Researchers summed it up by saying that the antibiotic "may reduce the effect of arousal and lead to sober decision-making."
The findings of the study are published in the journal Scientific Reports in Nature.
